Between the rain pouring on the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra's debut performance and the resulting steam rising from the hot concrete at Live After Five last September, Jessica Ottaviano heard something that rang in her ears.

"We heard people walk by who said, 'I didn't even know Baton Rouge had a symphony,' or 'I've never heard a symphony orchestra before,'" she said. "That's pretty powerful, especially for someone like me who's so in it."

Ottaviano, BRSO's director of education, realizes that the symphony, like so many nonprofits in the art world, still has a ways to go before it succeeds in dropping the average age of supporters. However, a few of the symphony's tactics -- like performing at Live After Five -- have helped bring in a small but growing group of young professionals to its theater.

"I always grew up with music playing around me," said Forum 35 president Eric Dexter. "I always had an appreciation for music, just a very diverse range of music."

Dexter moved to Baton Rouge nearly 10 years ago, but he only began attending BRSO performances about three years ago after suggestions from his friends Slater McKay and Scott Gaudin, who also have ties to Forum 35 and are committee-members for BRSO. What Dexter found was a happy surprise.

"They're really good, really talented," Dexter said. "It's much more personable than I would think."

Approachability is likely the largest barrier for many people, according to Dexter and Ottaviano, and events like Live After Five have helped to break that wall down in some ways.

"For people who aren't familiar with it ... it can be pretty pretentious," Ottaviano said. "There are a lot of customs and traditions and things you do in an orchestra that for someone who's not familiar with it, it's like, 'Why are you doing that?'"

To counter those questions and the ideas that the symphony is simply for a well-dressed, older generation, BRSO began offering "Symphony 101," an inside look at rehearsals with a question and answer session.

"These people are highly trained and experts at what they do," Dexter said. "So they break it down and ... make sure the common folk can understand it. ... It was one of the better experiences I've had on the music scene, sitting behind the symphony orchestra while they rehearse."

Symphony 101 will likely return in November of the 2014-2015 season, details of which are expected to be announced this week.

Other symphony events, like last year's POPS series, have also helped bring in new ears, and symphony board-members hope to continue expanding their reach into the future.

"We need to remember first and foremost, we are in the entertainment business," said Gaudin, who is among BRSO's new generation of supporters and the chairperson of its development committee. "If we start from the customer experience... and work backwards to what you're going to offer, that's what we've started to do in the last couple of years. It's being in tune to what people want to hear."

Many of the symphony's newest supporters can already count a history in music, much like all of the people interviewed for this story. It's overcoming the hurdle of reaching those who don't have that background that will be key to BRSO's future.

"There's a lot less classical music on the the radio now," said McKay, who is the chairperson for the governance committee. "It's not something people are exposed to as readily as they used to be."

Finding the links between what will resonate with symphony newcomers and pay homage to the rich, storied history of classical music will help bridge that gap. Last season, BRSO was successful in finding that soft-spot within gospel and Motown music, both of which were the focus of a POPS performance.

"All the background for that music is symphonic," McKay said. "It's the music that can bring in younger people, but at the same time you have to respect the tradition of maintaining the classical symphonic performances, which have been preserved for hundreds of years."

As the city grows, maintaining a thriving symphony could likely be another feather in Baton Rouge's cap as companies open, expand and recruit employees.

"As much as I love LSU football -- the IBMs of the world, they need to be able to attract world-class talent," Gaudin said. "We believe in the symphony and the arts and culture scene. We want to ... make Baton Rouge a place of relevance, and make it somewhere people want to live, work and play."